Most PhDs work outside academia, but doctoral programs do not prepare them for this career path

A review of 71 publications identifies a gap between PhD training and non-academic careers and highlights what universities and governments need to change

Daniel Dieb

A white woman with long blond hair, wearing a red dress, sits with her back to the viewer on a white office chair. She rests her hand on her face and looks out through a glass window in a high-rise corporate building, with a view of a city in the background.

A literature review examined 71 publications—57 scientific articles and 14 national and international reports—on the careers of PhD holders outside academia, in order to provide an overview of current research in the field. The analyzed studies indicate that the PhD holders feel that their training does not prepare them to work outside academia, but that the skills they develop, such as critical thinking, project management, and data analysis, are generally valued by employers.

The data compiled by the study show that careers outside academia are now the norm, not the exception. In the USA and Canada, only 20 to 25% of PhD holders obtain tenure-track positions—university roles that place researchers on a formal path toward permanent job security.

Rates vary across Europe: 31% in the Netherlands, 19% in the UK, and 9.5% in Italy work in academia. In Australia, around 42% of PhD holders work in higher education, a comparatively high proportion but still the minority.

Non-academic careers: a documented gap

There is a recurring pattern in studies on career choices: many begin their PhD programs intending to pursue an academic career, but their intentions shift throughout their training.

Stability, salary, and work-life balance attract individuals to the non-academic market, while intellectual autonomy and an interest in basic research keep them in academia.

These are some of the findings from “PhD graduates pursuing careers beyond academia: a scoping review,” by Isabelle Skakni and colleagues, published in the journal Higher Education Research & Development.

The study is based on publications from 2000 to 2021, predominantly representing studies from North America and Europe, with emphasis on the USA (37%), the UK (17%), and Australia (13%). It is a delimitation of both the study and the field it maps.

Leaving academia is still seen, in many contexts, as a failure. Changing this perception within universities is needed for any other reform to succeed.

In Brazil, the new National Graduate Studies Plan (PNPG) highlights the employability of master’s and PhD graduates as one of its challenges, due to the mismatch that still exists between academia and the labor market.

The PNPG recommends building bridges with other professional environments (academia–non-academic productive sector, academia–society, academia–cultural institutions, and academia–basic education relationships) and the creation of indicators that assess the impact of graduate education on the non-academic productive sector.

The findings from the review help explain why this bridge is difficult to build.

What employers think (and what changes after hiring)

Only 16% of the studies include employers as the investigated population. While they value the analytical skills of the PhD holders, they express skepticism about whether the choice of a non-academic career is genuine or the result of a lack of alternatives.

Another finding is the change in perception after experience: organizations that had never had PhD holders on their staff tend to be more resistant to hiring them. Those that have report greater satisfaction and a willingness to hire them again.

The discussion points to a cultural gap rather than an institutional gap. Career support programs exist.

The authors classify them into three types: supplementary (optional workshops and online resources alongside the PhD program), immersive (internships, short-term research, and mentorship programs), and transformative (career development integrated into the PhD curriculum itself). The literature on the effectiveness of these initiatives, however, is scarce.

What the studies agree on is that leaving academia is still seen, in many contexts, as a failure. Changing this perception within universities, the authors argue, is necessary for any other reform to succeed.

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